Harry James Potter woke before the sun. He was 18 now a legal adult in the muggle world as well as the Wizarding world. Memories flooded his brain his life leading up to this point. The years he spent with the Dursley's, Dudley's thousands of tantrums. Discovering he was a wizard, learning about Hogwarts, and meeting all the people that had grown to be his family over the last 7 years. Cedric Diggory at the Yule ball with Cho Chang were quickly replaced by memories of his last cry and of Voldemort's return. Harry stopped the reminiscing there not wanting to succumb to the sadness that came with memories that followed.

" Harry! You're up early," Mrs. Weasley hugged him, " Happy birthday! I'll go fix you a special breakfast alright dear! It'll be done faster then an angry hippogriff will attack."

" Thanks Mrs. Weasley, more than for breakfast. Thank you for making me part of your family. Your family made my life much more bearable" Harry replied

Mrs. Weasley's eyes went all teary,

"Oh you!" She exclaims thickly as she made her way to the kitchen.

The smell of smoked sausage and frying potatoes woke everyone up. Good mornings and happy birthdays were coming from all directions. Once all the Weasley's and Granger's were all gathered together to eat breakfast a knock came on the door.

" Ron you get it, who could be showing up this early without sending word?" Mrs Weasley wondered aloud,

Moments later Ron re-entered the kitchen giving everyone a huge grin as he stepped aside and George walked in to the kitchen. The Weasley family erupted into a mass of fast paced orange and red blurs, within seconds the whole family was hugging their brother and son. After the initial jubilation at his homecoming George was seated at the table eating breakfast and filling them in on what he had been up to.

"McGonagall is bloody amazing. She has pretty much everything fixed. Taught me some right nifty spells as well, I don't know how she wasn't my favorite teacher in Hogwarts. The dormitories are all back, thanks to Hagrid and Grawp the grounds are tidied up. It'll take awhile for all the trees and underbrush to grow back in that small section that burned but it looks alright. What's new here, I'm told congratulations are in order? Hermione!i can't believe it! You actually agreed to marry our Ickle Ronikins! " George laughed,

"That's hardly a congratulations George, but yes I did, I'll be your sister-in-law early next year." Hermione answered smiling at Ron.

George addressed Harry,

"So when will you be asking Ginny to marry you then? "

Mrs. Weasley glared and answered for Harry,

"Not until she's of age! It's only another year." Mrs. Weasley exclaimed glaring all around the room as if daring someone to speak against her, of course nobody dared.

"I've only bought her a necklace Mrs. Weasley, I'm not rushing anything. Except maybe my birthday cake." Harry joked and everyone laughed together.

The house was already clean so everyone was free to do as they wished of course they decided to play some quiddich. Having George there seemed to make everything somewhat more enjoyable. As soon as Mr Weasley got off work he and Bill magically created a temporary fire pit in the back yard within moments there was some delicious smelling meats roasting on a spit over the fire. Mrs. Weasley had wrapped whole potatoes and full cobs of corn with butter and salt in tin foil pouches and they were placed into the embers on the sides of the fire. With the food cooking and the cake in the oven everyone joined together for a game of exploding snap. Mrs. Granger politely refused to play afraid that a surprise explosion might cause her water to break.

Everyone but Bill, George, and Harry were out of the game when Mrs. Weasley left to finish the cake the game got a little more competitive. Mr. Weasley and Mr. Granger had a wager going, !r. Weasley believing Bill would win and Mr. Granger convinced George had a skill for the game and would win, when Harry's cards exploded the game got more competitive yet . Brother versus Brother both were quick and each seemed to know which cards would explode, the game went on and on. The food was finished so Mrs. Weasley broke up their game to set the table.

Two whole chickens were roasted perfectly and a large chunk of grilled pork looked perfectly succulent next to a huge, still sizzling tri-tip steak. The potatoes were perfectly cooked and tasted slightly of smoke, the corn was the best part. The Weasley's and Granger's ate their fill. They finished eating just as the sun went down. Mr. Weasley went in for the cake. It was another masterpiece, a large sheet cake with a luminescent moon in the center and Happy Birthday in the same luminescent color as the moon. The candles were something Harry had never seen before, they were lit with some type of fire but they glowed like stars instead of blazing like a typical candle.

A few hours later most of the adults had gone into bed full of good food and sugary cake. Only Mr. Granger remained outside with all the young Weasley men and their counterparts. George pulled out a small bottle of firewhiskey, passing it around to the group before taking a large swig for himself.

"Gained quite a taste for this stuff, Professor McGonagall is the one who got me hooked, don't ever tell her I told you that. After a long day it absorbs all the stress. Don't know how I'd have made through this past month without the stuff!" George exclaimed taking another drink.

He passed the bottle around again and this time everyone drank deeply. As nice as it was to have the family together, having George there reminded them Fred wasn't there. All were grateful for the burning then numbing sensation that came with the whiskey.